Fast-moving trains have been supplying cinematic shocks to audiences since the earliest days of film. Legend has it in 1896 when the Lumiere brothers first screened 50-seconds of a train approaching a station to show off their miraculous new invention, the assembled patrons panicked and fled, believing the train was hurtling towards them! We may…
Category: Film
Hanxiong Bo’s Drifting Review
Since the late ‘70s, China has implemented a strict policy enforcing that each family is only allowed to have one child in order to control China’s growing population. Although this policy was reformed in 2016, the controversial ‘one-child’ policy has had devastating and traumatic effects on families for generations. Growing up during the height of…
Gets Good Light Review
Coming out of the growing ‘Abolish ICE’ movement – Gets Good Light is a compassionate and powerful protest against the growing powers of the Immigrant and Customs Enforcement Agency in the United States. Since the start of Trump’s administration, the number of individuals apprehended by ICE has only grown – approximately 4,143 undocumented immigrants without…
A Better You Review
Self-improvement seems to be the ‘thing’ of the 21st century – everywhere you look, there are self-help books telling you how you can be the best possible you. Experiences no longer just have to be fun but also ‘life-affirming’. Hobbies are no longer just for enjoyment – but to be a project or skill you’re…
How Far is Home Review
In January 2017, President Trump signed an executive order that barred citizens and refugees from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, and Somalia from entering the U.S for 90 days. All 7 countries being predominantly Islamic, the ban was dubbed as a ‘Muslim ban’ for its Islamophobic undertones and blatant disregard of the lives of…
Los Conductos Review
A former cult member Pinky (Luis Felipe Lozano) works at a sweatshop at an undisclosed location in Bogota, Colombia. Although there is nothing to provide a window into how he was indoctrinated into a cult, with a certain look of uncertainty about this world in his eyes one can imagine that he’d make the perfect…
“We Did Not See Her as an Icon or the Greatest Actress, to Us She Was Our Mum – In Conversation with Sean Hepburn Ferrer, Audrey Hepburn’s Son
Filmgoers know almost everything about the Hollywood icon Audrey Hepburn, but not many are familiar with the actress’ childhood and youth, and the impact it had on shaping her character as well as her adult life – growing up in occupied Netherlands during the World War II, her parents’ divorce, and moving countries while she…
70th Berlin International Film Festival: Jumbo Review
Machines have feelings just like us, or at least that’s what Zoé Wittock’s debut feature film Jumbo would have you believe. Centred on the love affair between Jeanne (A Portrait of a Lady on Fire’s Noémie Merlant) and a theme park ride she’s named Jumbo, this erotic drama, which is based on a ‘true’ story,…
70th Berlin International Film Festival: Yalda – A Night For Forgiveness Review
It took a while for Iranian cinema to come to light, nonetheless, this doesn’t mean that there haven’t been any works worth paying attention to. With Abbas Kiarostami, Rakhshān Banietemad, Bahram Beyzai, Dariush Mehrjui, and Asghar Farhadi paving the way for worldwide recognition, Iranian cinema became a frequent ‘guest’ at many prestigious film festivals. Although…
The Trouble with Nature Review
Awaking in a field of swaying lavender, famed philosopher Edmund Burke (Antony Langdon) jumps up – muttering under his breath, ‘this isn’t what I imagined at all – there’s nothing here except lavender and more lavender’. The reason for his peculiarly placed nap? To find out more about the ‘sublime’ – the very concept he…
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